Looking forward to the 4th of July weekend, Hannah and I didn't have too much scheduled, seeing as John was spending the weekend working in PA. We were planning on two baseball games, possible fireworks, and me working a temple shift. However, things got shaken up once I saw that the Blue Angels were coming to Traverse City.
Glo is at Interlochen this summer (here's hoping we get a post from her at some point about her experience here). Going up to see her is such a draw for me. I don't even mind the four hours it takes to drive north--I just want to be with her and be at Interlochen. To stay any night in a hotel around here, it's upwards of $350/night, but Stone Hotel runs about $140/night. Granted, it's no luxury, but it's a room and a bathroom and it totally works. So I checked and they had availability! Next, I needed an animal sitter. Despite the fact that Mark was in town and available, he gave me all kinds of grief about watching the animals for 24 hours, so I reached out to one of my young women. She was more than happy to help me, especially when I offered her $100. The plans were set.
Two days before we were to leave, I started feeling really sick. I'm still not sure if it was a reaction to stopping any and all biologics (and AERD rearing its ugly head)), or if it was an actual cold, but I started praying that it would go away. And the day before we were supposed to leave, I came home from my temple shift and found Johannah squirreled away underneath three blankets despite the temperature outside sitting at 90 degrees. She had had two weeks to get all of the necessary vaccines for PA school, and she ended up getting them all within 24 hours. As John put it, her immune system was INSANE, fighting tetanus, polio, diphtheria and hepatitis B all at the same time. I asked her when she had last taken Tylenol, and she told me that morning....and that she could only take it every 12 hours. Yeah, we reviewed the dosage amounts for pain medications for her future use ;-) I drugged her up with acetaminophen AND ibuprofen, and within an hour, she was back to normal, thank goodness.
The next morning, we got dressed for church and got there early so that I could play the organ. I was thrilled to discover that the national anthem had been chosen for our opening hymn, and "America the Beautiful" was the closing hymn, sandwiching fast and testimony meeting. There have been first Sundays in July when no mention of our country happens in church, and it is a mixture of disappointment and embarrassment in my mind. We have read too many stories and we have too many ancestors who have fought in wars to forget how lucky we are to celebrate independence.
In a stroke of luck, our meeting was conducted by a man who was born in Kenya and who opened up the fast and testimony meeting with his own testimony. It was the most beautiful statement I've ever heard about our country. In fact, if it hadn't been a testimony, I would've asked him for a copy of the talk. He combined his own immigrant story with the words of the national anthem with scriptures from the Book of Mormon. It was so inspired.
And the theme continued. People shared their thoughts about our country as well. I was thinking of bearing my testimony, but Mark ended up sharing his. However, I thought I would record my thoughts from that hour:
Why is it that I/we become so emotional when we think about patriotism? Many of my generation haven't served in the military, and if there are parents who have, it's not usually during an active war. I think it's the same reason we get emotional when we think about mothers. Or when we read about Aslan's death in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It's about sacrifice. Anytime I think of a great sacrifice, whether for my country, or for family, it reminds my soul of the ultimate sacrifice by my Savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, there are people who don't subscribe to the teachings of Jesus, but they are still touched because their soul remembers that sacrifice. The sacrifice when he stood before Heavenly Father and volunteered to save us all. He led his army in the war in heaven for our agency to choose on earth, and he continues to be our leader today, again allowing us a choice. And what leader isn't asked to sacrifice at some point for the freedom of others, His sacrifice being the greatest of all?
Our spirits remember what our Savior did for us, and when we see something similar in other aspects of our lives, it touches our hearts in a special way. That's what patriotism means to me--acknowledging the sacrifice of others for my own freedom. So when the WYSO concert began at Interlochen with the national anthem, how sad I felt seeing kids choosing to sit through it. In essence, not acknowledging the sacrifice that has been made for them to HAVE THE CHOICE to stand or sit.
Hannah and I left immediately after sacrament meeting and began the drive up north. Per every road trip I lead, we listened to the scriptures and conference talks, and this time it was the Come, Follow Me lesson. We were discussing the widow of Zeraphath in 1 Kings, and her willingness to make the prophet, Elijah, some cake even though she knew that she and her son were going to die.
Again, sacrifice. Sacrificing our own needs and desires to serve God and follow the prophet.
I was thinking about that widow. We all know the status of widows in ancient times--no husband meant no support which meant certain death. Sure enough, she was preparing one last meal before she and her son died. Imagine how malnourished and emaciated she must have looked. (And no wonder that even after the miracle of endless cakes and oil, her son continued to have health problems.) And yet she was asked to sacrifice. She was asked to put all that she had on the altar and trust in God. Like us, she was pushed to the brink before the Lord stepped in. I guess I would call this a sacrifice of a contrite heart and broken spirit.
As Hannah and I drove, we openly wept while talking about it, and I was reminded again how inspired the Come, Follow Me program is, and how important it is that we study our scriptures. Doing so is yet another sacrifice we make.
We drove straight to Traverse City, because the air show started at 1:00, but the Blue Angels specifically started at 3:00. We pulled in at 2:30 and drove around for a good ten minutes before finding a parking spot. Cherry Festival was in FULL swing! But lucky for us, it was two blocks from our parking spot to the beach, and we easily found a seat in the shade. Oh man, putting my toes in the sand was heaven, and the weather was perfect, and unlike our other experiences, there was nobody yelling at us ;-) I give the Blue Angels a "C" for their performance. It was nothing like the Thunderbirds. Yes, if you've never seen another aerial group, you would think the Blue Angels are pretty terrific, but having had front seats to the Thunderbirds back in 2019, there's just no comparison. One of the boats had "Danger Zone" playing during the air show which was super fun, and I was so happy to be sharing the whole experience with Hannah. As she said, we're a pretty good road-trip team ;-)
Afterwards, we were so happy to arrive at Interlochen. Hannah got a good nap in the car, so she was ready to go. We had packed a lunch of peanut butter crackers, but we were hungry. Despite not being able to eat Stone food for several years, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Nope.
It wasn't meant to be, yet again.
And even Hannah couldn't get the food down. The pineapple tasted like cardboard, the peas were, in her words, "narsty" and the filling in the chicken Kiev looked like baby puppy poop. We should've known it was going to be a loss when we asked the kid serving the food if it was any good, and he said, "Eh...."
But it sure was fun, sitting on the porch looking over the lake, just being. There is nothing like Interlochen, and the magic that is here.
I will say that things have changed in the five years since I've been here. Boys now dress like girls, and girls dress like boys. And faculty are wearing tank tops and no socks. It's too bad, because I imagine in a couple of years, uniforms will be no more.
We swung by Intermediate Meadows where Glo is a counselor, and she had so much to tell us. Stuff to tell us about her job, about her campers, about Interlochen itself. It's beautiful to see Glo in her element,and it gives me hope to think of her as a mother someday because she will seriously KILL it. She's learning all about balance between being stern and being merciful, and the girls love her for it. They seriously don't even know how good they have it with her!
And an hour later, we ran into her and her campers up by the Melody Freeze. They basically completely ignored me and spent every moment talking to Hannah....which left her an insecure mess after they walked away. In her words, "I need to prepare for that kind of experience!"
Then it was time for the WYSO concert which meant huge expectations. They were playing "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz. We sat close to Glo and her campers.
So much disappointment. The piece is WAY too big for six days of rehearsal. I mean five movements? In six days? Instead of a unified group, it felt like 100 soloists, all hanging on for dear life. Woodwinds were out of tune, strings were off on their bowings. And it was too long of a concert. I mean, the kids must've been exhausted. And I read that the guest conductor is a fellow with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Yeah, he obviously didn't know how to rehearse and conduct kids.
And then? TRAVESTY! The first chair violin got up and conducted the Interlochen theme AND THE AUDIENCE APPLAUDED! I mean, it's one thing that they applauded after every movement, but after the theme? When it says specifically in the program to hold applause after the completion of the theme? I had HAD it, and turned around to the two people clapping behind me, and said, "THERE'S NO CLAPPING AT THE THEME!"
Interlochen and its president, Trey Devey, better have a come-to-Jesus moment, because this camp is built on tradition, and many of those traditions are going the way of the dinosaur.
Hannah and I headed back to our hotel room, and dreaded the night before us. Despite reserving a room for two people, we had been given a full-size bed. As we both agreed in the morning, it was the sleep from hell.
We were supposed to attend a Tigers game at 1:00, but it took 45 minutes to get our eggs at Bud's. I drove like a bat out of hell back down to Detroit, but we had missed over half the game by the time we got close. So instead, we swung by the house to let the dogs out, and then headed to a movie. After all, it was Emagine Monday which meant two free movie tickets for us. I let Hannah pick the movie, and in true patriotic fashion, we watched "Top Gun: Maverick" again. Granted, it has a lot to live up to and my 40 viewings of the original "Top Gun", but shoot, it's good. We cried (again!) through that movie as well.
We sure didn't want to give up the fun weekend to wake up to reality the next morning, but we were thankful we had so many good moments to remind us of what and who we love.
P.S. In the past week, three huge rocks have hit my windshield. Three strikes and I'm out I guess after surviving the first two. Yeah, I called John and told him that we would need to order a new windshield, and he told me that he still loved me ;-)
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